Fortress Europe

UMR – ‘unac­com­pa­nied minor refugees’ is how they are referred to tech­ni­cal­ly. Who are these chil­dren and young­sters who so fre­quent­ly are forced to leave their homes as a result … read more

It is impos­si­ble to get a job in Benin if you don’t have any con­nec­tions, Jonas and Roland relate. They are both over 25, yet nei­ther has a job or … read more

Tarifa, a city in the south of Spain, Europe‘s south­ern­most point, early morn­ing. The wind surfers sail across the clear blue sea and the first tourists are taking their places in the deck chairs. Only a few steps away a dead body is being tossed up on the shore by crash­ing waves. They come when there is a full moon and a smooth sea. These are the nights of the “pat­eras”, the motor­boats that try to cross the Strait of Gibral­tar in the dark. They come from Moroc­co and Sub-Saha­ran Africa. Many cannot swim and have noth­ing except for the clothes on their backs. It doesn‘t take much for an over­filled boat to cap­size or sink. From an Euro­pean per­spec­tive and with haunt­ing images, the film looks at the people of Tarifa whose every­day life is influ­enced by the con­stant flow of ille­gal immi­grants look­ing for a better future in the fortress that is Europe.